In the presence of Sangha, in the light of Dharma, in oneness
with Buddha -
may my path to complete enlightenment benefit everyone!

In this passing moment karma ripens and all things come to be.
I vow to affirm what is:
If there's cost, I choose to pay.
If there's need, I choose to give.
If there's pain, I choose to feel.
If there's sorrow, I choose to grieve.
When burning, I choose heat.
When calm, I choose peace.
When starving, I choose hunger.
When happy, I choose joy.
Whom I encounter, I choose to meet.
What I shoulder, I choose to bear.
When it's my birth, I choose to live.
When it's my death, I choose to die.
Where this takes me, I choose to go.
Being with what is, I respond to what is.

This life is as real as a dream; the one who knows it can not be
found;
and truth is not a thing, therefore I vow to choose THIS Dharma
entrance gate! May all Buddhas and Wise Ones help me live this
vow.

"Wherever you are, be there totally. If you find your here
and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three
options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept
it totally" - Tolle

Acceptance is hard.

The mind thinks acceptance is defeat, resignation, stoic
tolerance. The mind thinks acceptance is locking in a reality it
doesn't like. The mind thinks acceptance is giving up hope.

It's actually just the opposite. Change happens only after
complete acceptance.

We believe that time heals. Time does not heal. Acceptance heals,
but acceptance is a delicate thing. It's not a resignation. It is
not a forced accptance that says I don't like accepting but I
will because that's what I should do. It is a complete acceptance
of what is, without grasping or running away from the present.
And then, miraculously, life knows what to do.

Look at the moment-to-moment grasping that the mind does. Look at
it with Awareness. Be completely still, and fall back into the
Now, and you will see that even in this stillness, there is the
jumpiness of grasping. We are in a constant process of becoming.
Can we release this movement, this becoming, this `shoulding' and
just be, right here, right now?

This is Acceptance.

Acceptance is internalizing the rightness of here and now.
Acceptance is a loving allowing.

"Stop all delays, all seeking and all striving. Put down
your concepts, ideas and beliefs. For one instant be still and
directly encounter the silent unknown core of your being. In that
instant Freedom will embrace you and reveal the Awakening that
you are." - Adyashanti

You read something like this, and you will nod your head and say,
yes, this makes sense. I will accept what is. The next time
something "bad" happens, guess what? It will be hard
for you to accept, perhaps even harder than before because your
attention is on trying to accept. But the time after that, it
will be a little easier. And again, it will be easier. It keeps
getting progressively easier.

If you have a hard time with acceptance, or don't quite
understand it, don't worry about it. It develops naturally with
deepening Awareness and Release.

- Kaushik Chokshi, from Awakening is Simple

Satisfaction Beyond Circumstance

There is, within each of us,
a level of Satisfaction
which exists beyond all circumstance.

Discover THIS, and you will experience
the peace that passes all understanding.

- Metta Zetty

The dream self is created from identification with objects that
arise. For example, you might think, "I am angry," or
"It's a dreadful day." But look more closely. If you
can see a thought, is that thought you? If you can see an
emotion, is it you? You are the seer, not the objects seen. That
which is seen is an object that arises and falls -- a temporary
form. You are that which is looking at those objects as they
arise and fall.

Even the notion that there is a seer as a separate identity is an
object (an idea) in awareness. In looking inward, there is no
separate entity there. There is only awareness recognizing
awareness. Awareness is not an object. Your true identity is pure
seeing itself. This can be fearful if there is a desire to hold
onto some identity. But it is absolutely liberating if you see
that even that fear is an object in awareness.

Suffering happens when you believe that you are your thoughts and
emotions. In reality, you are not angry. Anger is arising. It's
not actually a dreadful day. The thought, "It's a dreadful
day" is arising in awareness. This is not about denying or
suppressing thought and emotion. It is about seeing them for what
they really are.

- Scott Kiloby, from Reflections of the One Life, posted
to SufiMystic

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.